Generally, a wind turbine includes a tower, a nacelle mounted on the tower, and a rotor coupled to the nacelle. The rotor generally includes a rotatable hub and a plurality of rotor blades coupled to and extending outwardly from the hub. Each rotor blade may be spaced about the hub so as to facilitate rotating the rotor to enable kinetic energy to be converted into usable mechanical energy, which may then be transmitted to an electric generator disposed within the nacelle for the production of electrical energy. Typically, a gearbox is used to drive the electric generator in response to rotation of the rotor. For instance, the gearbox may be configured to convert a low speed, high torque input provided by the rotor to a high speed, low torque output that may drive the electric generator.
Lubrication systems are often used within wind turbines to circulate oil throughout the gearbox, thereby decreasing the friction between the moving components of the gearbox as well as providing cooling for such components. However, over time, the condition of the oil can degrade significantly. As such, the oil condition must be inspected periodically to prevent unnecessary damage to the gearbox due to, for example, component wear caused by excessive amounts of metallic particles and/or other debris contained within the oil. Currently, gearbox inspection methods require that a wind turbine be shutdown to permit a maintenance worker to climb into the nacelle and gain access to the interior of the gearbox. Thus, conventional inspection methods can be very costly as well as time and labor intensive. As a result, scheduled inspections of the gearbox are typically infrequent, thereby increasing the likelihood of damage occurring to the gearbox due to degraded oil conditions.
Accordingly, a system and/or methods that allow for the online monitoring of oil conditions within the gearbox would be welcomed in the art.